Baidu Inc BIDU

BEIJING, May 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU and HKEX: 9888 (HKD Counter) and 89888 (RMB Counter)), ("Baidu" or the "Company"), a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

"Baidu Core's online marketing revenue remained stable, while the end-to-end optimization of our AI technology stack continued to propel the growth of our AI Cloud revenue during the quarter," said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu. "As a new era of Gen-AI unfolds in China, foundation models like ERNIE will serve as the underlying infrastructure, infusing various facets of people's lives. We are making our ERNIE family of models increasingly affordable and efficient. This should provide Baidu with even greater opportunities ahead."

"In the first quarter of 2024, Baidu Core's non-GAAP operating margin expanded both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter to 23.5%. We have established a track record of consistently improving operational efficiency. In the coming quarters, we will execute on what is needed to optimize our operational efficiency in support of our AI enabled businesses and high-quality growth, and maintain a healthy non-GAAP operating margin," said Rong Luo, CFO of Baidu.

Operational Highlights 

Corporate

• Baidu returned US$229 million to shareholders since the beginning of Q1 2024, bringing the cumulative repurchase to US$898 million under the 2023 share repurchase program.
• Baidu released its annual ESG Report on May 13, 2024, which details Baidu's latest ESG policies and sustainability initiatives. (http://esg.baidu.com/Uploads/Baidu_2023_ESG_Report.pdf).

AI Cloud

• PaddlePaddle developer community grew to 13 million in mid-April, 2024.
• Baidu expanded the ERNIE family of models, by launching several lightweight large language models in Q1 2024, making ERNIE increasingly affordable.
• Baidu launched and improved the tools on its MaaS platform for enterprise customers in Q1 2024. These tools aim to facilitate the development of AI-native applications, AI agents, and the creation of customized models on Baidu's MaaS platform.

Intelligent Driving

• Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, provided about 826K rides in the first quarter of 2024, up 25% year over year. As of April 19, 2024, the cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go surpassed 6 million.

Mobile Ecosystem

• In March 2024, Baidu App's MAUs reached 676 million, up 3% year over year.
• Managed Page accounted for 50% of Baidu Core's online marketing revenue in the first quarter of 2024.

First Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Total revenues were RMB31.5 billion ($4.37 billion), increasing 1% year over year.

• Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB23.8 billion ($3.30 billion), increasing 4% year over year; online marketing revenue was RMB17.0 billion ($2.36 billion), up 3% year over year, and non-online marketing revenue was RMB6.8 billion ($935 million), up 6% year over year, mainly driven by AI Cloud business.
• Revenue from iQIYI was RMB7.9 billion ($1.10 billion), decreasing 5% year over year.

Cost of revenues was RMB15.3 billion ($2.12 billion), increasing 1% year over year, primarily due to an increase in traffic acquisition costs and costs related to AI Cloud business, partially offset by the decrease in content costs.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB5.4 billion ($745 million), accounting for 17% of total revenues in the quarter, compared to 18% in the same period last year.

Research and development expenses were RMB5.4 billion ($742 million), decreasing 1% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel related expenses and other R&D expenditures, partially offset by the increase in server depreciation expenses and server custody fees which support Gen-AI research and development inputs.

Operating income was RMB5.5 billion ($760 million). Baidu Core operating income was RMB4.5 billion ($629 million), and Baidu Core operating margin was 19%. Non-GAAP operating income was RMB6.7 billion ($924 million). Non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB5.6 billion ($774 million), and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin was 23%.

Total other income, net was RMB1.2 billion ($173 million), decreasing 52% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in fair value gain from long-term investments, partially offset by the increase in net foreign exchange gain.

Income tax expense was RMB883 million ($122 million), compared to RMB1.2 billion in the same period last year.

Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB5.4 billion ($755 million), and diluted earnings per ADS was RMB14.91 ($2.07). Net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB5.2 billion ($713 million), and net margin for Baidu Core was 22%. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB7.0 billion ($971 million). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB19.91 ($2.76). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB6.6 billion ($918 million), and non-GAAP net margin for Baidu Core was 28%.

Adjusted EBITDA was RMB8.2 billion ($1.14 billion) and adjusted EBITDA margin was 26%. Adjusted EBITDA for Baidu Core was RMB7.1 billion ($986 million) and adjusted EBITDA margin for Baidu Core was 30%.

As of March 31, 2024, cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments were RMB191.8 billion ($26.56 billion), and cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments excluding iQIYI were RMB185.8 billion ($25.73 billion). Free cash flow was RMB4.2 billion ($579 million), and free cash flow excluding iQIYI was RMB3.3 billion ($452 million).

Conference Call Information

Baidu's management will hold an earnings conference call at 8.00 AM on May 16, 2024, U.S. Eastern Time (8.00 PM on May 16, 2024, Beijing Time).

Please register in advance of the conference call using the link provided below. It will automatically direct you to the registration page of "Baidu Inc. Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call". Please follow the steps to enter your registration details, then click "Register". Upon registering, you will then be provided with the dial-in number, the passcode, and your unique access PIN. This information will also be emailed to you as a calendar invite.

For pre-registration, please click:
https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10038153-8wbttd.html  

In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial-in number(s), the passcode and unique access PIN) provided in the calendar invite that you have received following your pre-registration.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.baidu.com.

About Baidu

Founded in 2000, Baidu's mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu is a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, trading on NASDAQ under "BIDU" and HKEX under "9888". One Baidu ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Among other things, Baidu's and other parties' strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Baidu may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in announcements made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the "Hong Kong Stock Exchange"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Baidu's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Baidu's growth strategies; its future business development, including development of new products and services; its ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese Internet search and newsfeed market; competition for online marketing customers; changes in the Company's revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of its revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese-language Internet search and newsfeed market and the number of Internet and broadband users in China; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet search providers, and general economic conditions in China and elsewhere. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and announcements on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of the press release, and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement Baidu's consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, Baidu uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to Baidu, non-GAAP net margin, non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and free cash flow. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Baidu believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of its recurring core business operating results, such as operating performance excluding non-cash charges or non-operating in nature. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to Baidu's historical performance and liquidity. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using these non-GAAP financial measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude certain items that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant component in the Company's results of operations. These non-GAAP financial measures presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company's data.

Non-GAAP operating income represents operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses, and amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations.

Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu represents net income attributable to Baidu excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, disposal gain or loss, impairment of long-term investments, and fair value change of long-term investments, adjusted for related income tax effects. Baidu's share of equity method investments for these non-GAAP reconciling items, amortization and impairment of intangible assets not on the investees' books, accretion of their redeemable non-controlling interests, and the gain or loss associated with the issuance of shares by the investees at a price higher or lower than the carrying value per share, adjusted for related income tax effects, are also excluded.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS represents diluted earnings per ADS calculated by dividing non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, by the weighted average number of ordinary shares expressed in ADS. Adjusted EBITDA represents operating income excluding depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, and share-based compensation expenses.

For more information on non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measure."